Ancient Rome

[FULL DISCLOSURE: I received my copy of this book free from the author and/or publisher. I was not paid for this review and the opinion expressed is purely my own] Hannibal’s Road covers a period in history that is often only briefly described, if not glossed over entirely. That period is the 10 years between 213-203 B.C. after his stunning victories at Trebia, Trasimene, and Cannae until his evacuation of the Italian peninsula. The stats. There are 249 pages of text divided into an introduction, 11 chapters, and an epilogue. There are also several maps, notes, a bibliography, and an index. The period between the Roman defeats at Trebia, Trasimene, … More after the Jump…

Many people have heard of Hadrian’s Wall in the UK and same have even heard of the Antonine Wall a little farther north. What many people have never heard of or if they have heard of do not know where they are located are the Roman Limes(pronounced leem-ez) that stretched around the entire periphery of the ancient Roman Empire. In many places the Limes ran along rivers or inaccessible mountains but in places where this was not possible the Romans built and garrisoned physical fortifications to mark the extent of their territory and prevent outside invaders from getting in an attacking or raiding within Roman territory. Because my wife and … More after the Jump…

[FULL DISCLOSURE: I received my copy of this book free from the author and/or publisher. I was not paid for this review and the opinion expressed is purely my own] Many people think that global trade is a relatively new development in the world. That is not the case and The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes by Raoul McLaughlin describes the ways in which ancient Rome and China traded goods over the ancient Silk Routes. First, the specs. There are 225 pages of text divided into 14 topical chapters and 5 appendices. There are also extensive notes, a bibliography and an index. While many histories of both Rome and … More after the Jump…

The Battlefield of Cannae: a Site Visit The Battle of Cannae in 212 B.C. is perhaps the platonic ideal of what a decisive victory should look like. Western commanders have been trying to replicate it since it happened over two millennia ago. It was the final in a series of crushing defeats suffered by the Romans in the second Punic War to Hannibal Barca the other two being the Battles of Trebia and Lake Trasimene; one day I will visit these sights as well. I covered the battle in a post almost exactly five years ago here: https://www.military-history.us/2010/10/rome-and-cannae/. This past summer while on vacation in Italy I finally got around … More after the Jump…

The end of the Roman Republic and founding of the Empire is one of those events in history that has been recounted so often in histories and also in stage and theater that everyone thinks they know what, why, and how it happened. Rome’s Revolution by Richard Alston will show you that you don’t necessarily know what you think you know and that most accounts of the fall of the Roman Republic are simplistic accounts at best. The author is a professor of Roman History and brings an expert’s perspective to the story that is missing from many popular accounts. The book itself is 337 pages of text with extensive notes, … More after the Jump…

On this day 2,000 years ago the reign of the first Roman Emperor IMPERATOR CAESAR DIVI F AVGVSTVS born Gaius Octavius ended when he passed away at the age of 75 at Nola after a short illness. Supposedly his last words were – “Have I played the part well? Then applaud as I exit.” His reign had lasted for 41 years and he had brought true stability and peace to Rome for the first time in almost 100 years. After his death his body was transported to Rome where he was cremated and his ashes were installed in the Mausoleum he had had built on the Campus Martius for the remains of himself … More after the Jump…

The Medieval Fortress: Castles, Forts, And Walled Cities Of The Middle Ages is a good study of the art and methods of fortifications and castles built in Eastern and Western Europe during the Middle Ages from the fall of Rome to the early modern period. The book is right around 300 pages long and includes many illustrations. It also includes a glossary, which is very helpful to those that are not familiar with the technical terms for elements of castles and fortifications. It is separated into 5 chapters, the first deals with the elements of fortification, the next three are chronological about the development of castles and the final chapter covers … More after the Jump…

I picked up Men, Women & War: Do Women Belong in the Front Line? by Martin van Creveld at the library recently because it looked like a good book about a topic I have found interesting ever since I was a private back in the early 90’s when I first joined the military. For this debate van Creveld’s book is about as topical as it gets. He examines the historical examples of women in combat and makes a valiant attempt to separate the fact from the fiction. The book is separated into three sections and includes extensive source notes and an index. It was written in 2001 so does not … More after the Jump…

The Roman World by Nigel Rogers is one of the best surveys of the Ancient Romans I have run across in years. This is not a military history of Rome, or even a history at all. It is rather a description and explanation of Roman life and culture as we understand it was lived. The book itself is 249 pages long and divided into 12 chapters that are thematically organized. There is a small six page index but no bibliography. The lack of a bibliography does not really detract from the book because this is not meant to be a scholarly work so much as a detailed introduction to Ancient … More after the Jump…

Castles and Fortified Cities of Medieval Europe: An Illustrated HistoryÂ is a very interestingÂ book. Â IÂ pickedÂ it up because we had a three hour bus ride to get to my son’s football game and my wife was using myÂ Kindle. Â I am certainly glad I did. This is a well written 330 page book. Â It includes an index and bibliography, both unfortunately short. Â The book is organized chronologically in five chapters covering fortification and castles from the 5th to the 16th century A.D. Â Each chapter is further subdivided geographically and covers both eastern and Western Europe and the Middle East. There are many illustrations, both ground plans and sketches that help to illuminate the … More after the Jump…

Anatomy of the CastleÂ by JohnÂ GibsonÂ is perhaps the best book describing Castles aimed at the general reader that I have ever read. Â The authorÂ managesÂ to make the somewhat technical and dry language of describing castles and their construction lovely and entertaining. It is a coffeeÂ tableÂ sized book that is jam packed with beautiful color photos of castles from all overÂ EuropeÂ and the Middle East. Â There are 200Â pagesÂ with a glossary, index, andÂ bibliography. Â It is divided into 6 chronological chapters with a lengthy introduction that describes the development of the art of fortification up to the development of the first castles. Â He alsoÂ includesÂ a chapter describingÂ whatÂ living in a castle must have truly been like. Â The glossary is … More after the Jump…

HOLY WARS: 3000 Years of Battles in the Holy Land is one of the better primers about conflict in the Holy Land to appear within the last few years. It consists of 17 chapters covering the initial Israelite conquest of Canaan in 1400 B.C. to the Israeli offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in 1982. The more recent Israeli-Palestinian conflict is covered in the epilogue. The work is 288 pages and includes extensive notes at the end of each chapter as well as a well sourced bibliography and index. The Kindle edition, which is what I have, was mostly free of editing errors and the only … More after the Jump…

[FULL DISCLOSURE: I received my copy of this book free from the publisher for purposes of reviewing it. I was not paid for this review and the opinion expressed is purely my own] Michael Stephenson’s workÂ The Last Full Measure: How Soldiers Die in Battle follows somewhat in the tradition of classics such a Keegan’s The Face of Battle and Victor David Hanson’s The Western Way of War. Where it differs from these two works as that while Keegan and Hanson focus on specific battles or time periods this book aims to be a more general description of the experience of combat throughout recorded history. In that, the book is … More after the Jump…

I haven’t touched on anything about antiquity for a while so I thought I would put this up as I have been thinking about this for the last week or two. This is the Marian Legion or the Reforms of Marius, whichever you choose to call it. These reforms are important because they set the stage for the Legion of the period of the Civil War and early Imperium, especially the time of the Pax Romana. These reforms are probably not a direct result of the genius of Gaius Marius, he just gets credit for implementing them. That being said, he is the one who implemented them and … More after the Jump…

[FULL DISCLOSURE: I received my copy of this book free from the publisher. I was not paid for this review and the opinion expressed is purely my own] I am someone who loves the ancients and loves reading the their stories. That being said, I am much more likely to read Caesar’s Commentaries or Plutarchâ€™s Life of Caesar than a modern day biography derived from those sources. In fact, I have read all those ancient works, most in both English and the original Latin. This book was a pleasure to read anyway. Bill Yenne has put together a comprehensive account of Caesar’s life that someone unfamiliar with Caesar’s exploits … More after the Jump…